‘Took a little bit of time to compute’: Man reveals he mistook his $40m Powerball win for just $40,000

A $40m Powerball winner who mistakenly believed he had won just $40,000 has recalled the life changing phone call he didn’t answer. The man from the Syndey suburb of Castle Hill was watching an NRL match featuring his beloved Manly Sea Eagles when he received a call from an unknown phone number. “When the phone started ringing, I thought it was random so didn’t answer,” he said. A text message from the Lott revealed he had won the draw, yet the enormity of the sum took a while to register. He purchased the winning market PowerHit entry via The Lott app. The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1561, drawn on Thursday night, were 27, 13, 15, 19, 14, 3 and 7. The Powerball number was 18. “At first, I thought I’d won $40,000. It actually took a little bit of time to compute,” the man said. “Then I realised it was $40m. “This is quite surreal. I’m in shock. “I never win anything. But I have to admit, when I put this ticket on this afternoon, I thought I just might win.” When the man told his wife of his winnings she burst into screams of elation. “We generally joke about winning. We always talk about how we could spend it if we won but then think we’ll never win, ever, ” the man said. The man’s wife added: “We’re going to get a new house, a new car and a beach house. And we might not work ever again.” The cashed-up couple are now looking to buy a couple of new houses and a car before putting their feet up and retiring early. Manly also won, soundly beating the North Queensland Cowboys The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 331 so far this financial year, including 102 won by NSW Lotteries customers.